Imagine a city split apart by two superpowers fighting for control of the world. This city becomes a symbol of the split between two very different worlds. That is what the city of Berlin, Germany was during the Cold War, a competition between the Capitalist United States of America and the Communist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union. Berlin became a symbol of what the Cold War was doing to the world. Husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, entire families were severed apart by the two superpowers struggling to spread their ideas to the world and counter their opponent via the Iron Curtain. Which is why on June 26, 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited this city severed in two by the Cold War. He delivered a speech to these weary citizens of Berlin that just wanted to be reunited with their friends, relatives, and other loved ones.
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He gave this speech to spark hope and patriotism in the citizens of West Berlin by delivering the speech “Ich bin ein Berliner,” which translates from German as “I am a Berliner.” At the same time he delivered this speech to show the devastation communism has on people and to persuade the free world to support the United States against the Soviet Union, a goal that President Kennedy accomplished through this speech. First of all, what is the Cold War? The Cold War was more or less a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted between 1946-1991. Pretty much the USA and the USSR competed against each other in the Olympics, the Space Race, an arms race, etcetera. The reason it is called the Cold War is because no one actually fought. It stayed “cold” rather than heating up and actual fighting breaking out between the two superpowers. Their battle ground? Europe. Europe was split into two parts, the eastern Communist Bloc and Western Europe. This split between Europe was dubbed “The Iron Curtain” by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Winston Churchill. This split started in Germany, splitting it into East Germany and West Germany. Germany’s capital city, Berlin, was also severed in two, forming East Berlin and West Berlin. Berlin was split by a wall called the Berlin Wall, separating the Communists from the free world. Which brings us to “Ich bin ein Berliner.” President Kennedy delivered this speech to the citizens of West Berlin as his primary audience on June 26, 1963. We know Kennedy is delivering this speech to the West Berliners because he says “I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin” (Kennedy). This means he is telling the Berliners that he’s honored to be in West Berlin and to be a guest of their mayor. As we can see when he says “your Mayor,” he is speaking directly to the citizens of West Berlin. Unless the citizens of Venice, Italy consider themselves Berliners by saying “Io sono un berlinese” and believe they live in West Berlin, then it’s obvious that Kennedy’s primary audience is the citizens of West Berlin. But President Kennedy’s secondary audience is the doubters of why the Cold War is necessary. He is trying to use pathos and logos to convince the doubters …show more content…
One example is “Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free” (Kennedy). This is essentially saying that everybody has the right to be free and true freedom cannot happen if one or more people are oppressed. This uses distinctio because Kennedy elaborates on “Freedom is indivisible…” by explaining that all must be free in order for true freedom to exist. This enhances his tone because it creates a sense of urgency and appeals to the fear of the people because most people fear oppression. This usage of distinctio helps Kennedy achieve his purpose of convincing the rest of the world to support the United States because it helps to paint the Communist Soviet Union as operating on an evil, oppressive system of government that enslaves people and just makes the whole idea of Communism look bad in
He gave this speech to spark hope and patriotism in the citizens of West Berlin by delivering the speech “Ich bin ein Berliner,” which translates from German as “I am a Berliner.” At the same time he delivered this speech to show the devastation communism has on people and to persuade the free world to support the United States against the Soviet Union, a goal that President Kennedy accomplished through this speech. First of all, what is the Cold War? The Cold War was more or less a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted between 1946-1991. Pretty much the USA and the USSR competed against each other in the Olympics, the Space Race, an arms race, etcetera. The reason it is called the Cold War is because no one actually fought. It stayed “cold” rather than heating up and actual fighting breaking out between the two superpowers. Their battle ground? Europe. Europe was split into two parts, the eastern Communist Bloc and Western Europe. This split between Europe was dubbed “The Iron Curtain” by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Winston Churchill. This split started in Germany, splitting it into East Germany and West Germany. Germany’s capital city, Berlin, was also severed in two, forming East Berlin and West Berlin. Berlin was split by a wall called the Berlin Wall, separating the Communists from the free world. Which brings us to “Ich bin ein Berliner.” President Kennedy delivered this speech to the citizens of West Berlin as his primary audience on June 26, 1963. We know Kennedy is delivering this speech to the West Berliners because he says “I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin” (Kennedy). This means he is telling the Berliners that he’s honored to be in West Berlin and to be a guest of their mayor. As we can see when he says “your Mayor,” he is speaking directly to the citizens of West Berlin. Unless the citizens of Venice, Italy consider themselves Berliners by saying “Io sono un berlinese” and believe they live in West Berlin, then it’s obvious that Kennedy’s primary audience is the citizens of West Berlin. But President Kennedy’s secondary audience is the doubters of why the Cold War is necessary. He is trying to use pathos and logos to convince the doubters …show more content…
One example is “Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free” (Kennedy). This is essentially saying that everybody has the right to be free and true freedom cannot happen if one or more people are oppressed. This uses distinctio because Kennedy elaborates on “Freedom is indivisible…” by explaining that all must be free in order for true freedom to exist. This enhances his tone because it creates a sense of urgency and appeals to the fear of the people because most people fear oppression. This usage of distinctio helps Kennedy achieve his purpose of convincing the rest of the world to support the United States because it helps to paint the Communist Soviet Union as operating on an evil, oppressive system of government that enslaves people and just makes the whole idea of Communism look bad in